Comparison of the Effects of Deer Antler, Old Antler, and Antler Glue on Osteoporosis in Ovariectomized Rats

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Background: Examination of the effects of deer antler, old antler, and antler glue on postmenopausal osteoporosis in an ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rat model. Methods: The study involved 7 experimental groups; SHAM (sham-operated rats), OVX (ovariectomized rats), E2 (ovariectomized rats with estradiol 10 μg/kg daily, orally), DA (ovariectomized rats with deer antler extract 5.83 mg/kg), OA (ovariectomized rats with old antler extract 3.8 mg/kg), low-AG (ovariectomized rats with low dose of antler glue powder 12.5 mg/kg), high-AG (ovariectomized rats with high dose of antler glue powder 37.5 mg/kg). After 6 weeks of treatment, body weight, blood calcium, phosphorus, estradiol, liver [alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT)] and kidney [blood urea nitrogen (BUN)/creatinine ratio] function, and femoral bone mineral density (BMD) were measured. Results: The body weights of DA, OA, low-AG, and high-AG groups did not significantly differ from OVX group. Blood estradiol levels were significantly increased in the DA, low-AG, and high-AG groups compared to the OVX group. Blood calcium, phosphorus, ALP, AST, and ALT levels and BUN/creatinine ratio did not show significant changes in the DA, OA, low-AG, and high-AG groups. BMDs of the femur, and femoral head and neck were significantly increased in the low-AG group. In the OA group, the BMD of the femoral head and neck was significantly increased. Conclusion: Treatment with deer antler, or antler glue for 6 weeks was effective for increasing estradiol and femoral BMD in ovariectomized rats, suggesting that this may be of therapeutic benefit for osteoporosis. ⓒ2018 Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).